Francis was human once, but now he's an eight-foot-tall locust, and everyone in Calliphora will tremble when they hear him sing. . . .

John is locked in a basement stained with the blood of half a dozen murdered children, and an antique telephone, long since disconnected, rings at night with calls from the dead. . . .

Nolan knows but can never tell what really happened in the summer of '77, when his idiot savant younger brother built a vast cardboard fort with secret doors leading into other worlds. . . .

The past isn't dead. It isn't even past. . . .

About the Author

Joe Hill is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Fireman; NOS4A2; Horns, which was made into a major motion picture starring Daniel Radcliffe; Heart-Shaped Box, which won the Bram Stoker Award and the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel; and the prizewinning story collection 20th Century Ghosts. He is also the Eisner Award–winning writer of a six-volume comic book series, Locke & Key. He lives in New Hampshire.

Praise For…

“Alternately sad, scary, strange and at times even sweet, these tales will haunt you long after you’ve read them.”— Parade (a "Parade Pick")

“[A] lovely, earnest collection of short fiction.”— Village Voice

“[O]ne of the best [horror] collections of the year. Hill is a relative newcomer who consistently creates creepy, very disturbing stories.”— Locus

“Each tale is unique, and the collection proves that Hill’s talent is not limited to horror, but extends well into the mainstream.”— Denver Rocky Mountain News

“[An] inventive collection . . . brave and astute.”— New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)

“[A] new take on the fantasy-horror genre...Highly recommended.”— The Sun Herald (Sydney, Australia)

“The selections range from the mundane to the surreal, with a strong emphasis on the kind of horror tale perfected by Ray Bradbury, Peter Straub and Stephen King.”— San Francisco Chronicle

“This solid, inventive, scary collection of stories reveals a writer who has thought hard about the problematics of horror.”— New York Times on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS

“Each of these chilling tales arrests you from the opening sentence and leads you — trustingly, thanks to the simple mastery of the story-teller — into a place of gulping fear.”— Daily Mail (London) on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS

“Subtle and disturbing in equal measure.”— Coventry Telegraph on 20TH CENTURY GHOSTS